Senior Hamas official says group is willing to lay down arms in exchange for Palestinian independence
Speaking to the AP in Istanbul, Al-Hayya said Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by the rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. He said Hamas would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions,” along Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
Kenya’s better diversified sources of dollar revenues to rein inflation as Nigeria, Ghana’s spikes
Inflation in Nigeria is expected to quicken to 29.1 per cent this year from an average of 24.5 per cent last year, before it slows to 17.2 per cent next year. It hit a 28-year high of 33.2 per cent in annual terms last month. Nigeria central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso raised the monetary policy rate by 200 basis points to 24.75 per cent last month after a 400 basis point hike in February.
Human Rights Watch report accuses Burkina Faso army of killing 223 civilians, including babies
The once-peaceful nation has been ravaged by violence that has pitted jihadis linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces. Both sides have targeted civilians caught in the middle, displacing more than two million people, of which over half are children. Most attacks go unpunished and unreported in a nation run by a repressive leadership that silences perceived dissidents.
FTC report lays bare how corporate greed puts huge bite on working families who spend most of their income on food
Time and again, big companies tell us that if they could only get bigger, they would pass savings on to consumers. This is almost never true. Instead, they give money back to their investors and reward executives – like Walmart’s Doug McMillon, who takes home over $25 million a year, and Kroger’s Rodney McMullen, who makes more than $19 million. That’s 671 times more than the amount an average Kroger worker makes.
Malaria remains leading killer in Kenya, but prospect of local vaccine production offers hope for patients
Kenya had an estimated five million malaria cases and over 12,000 deaths reported in 2022, according to the World Health Organization. Most of those affected are children under 5 and pregnant women. Kenya continues to combat malaria with traditional methods such as distributing bed nets that are treated with insecticides, spraying breeding areas and promoting prompt diagnosis and treatment, but experts say progress against the disease with those approaches has plateaued.
Rwanda readies hostel that once housed genocide survivors to host migrants from Britain
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the deportation flights would begin in July but has refused to provide details or say about how many people would be deported.
Prospect of Trump recapturing White House prompts US allies to review foreign policies
Some foreign leaders have contacted Trump directly despite the risk of irking his election rival, Democratic President Joe Biden. Saudi’s crown prince recently phoned Trump, a source with knowledge of the conversation said; while Hungary’s prime minister and Poland’s president met him in person in recent weeks.
British prime minister faces searing criticism by human rights groups after parliament passes deportation law
Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, criticised the legislation for preventing asylum-seekers from asking the courts to intervene when they are they are threatened with being sent back to the countries they are fleeing.
World Bank suspends $150m funding for Tanzania tourism project citing extrajudicial killings, sexual abuse in parks
At least $100 million has already been disbursed for the project, which started in 2017. The suspension of World Bank financing took effect April 18. The Oakland Institute, a California-based rights watchdog whose work focuses on marginalized communities, for years led calls for the World Bank to stop funding the project known by the acronym REGROW, documenting serious rights abuses suffered by Indigenous communities in the area.
58,000 malnourished Haitian children face death as gang violence cuts off capital by air, sea and land
Haiti’s gangs, many of which have grouped together under an alliance known as “Viv Ansanm” (Living Together), have said their siege on the capital was a battle to oust Henry, but since his announcement there has been little let-up in attacks.
